Rick Weingarten — Technology Consultant To OITP

John Bertot — University of Maryland

Bob Bocher — Wisconsin State Library

Nancy Bolt — Nancy Bolt & Associates

ALA Conference June 29, 2008

Slides will be at www.ala.org/oitp

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The Dilemma of Moore’s Law

Performance/ price doubles every (18, 12, 9, ?) months Chips, computers, memory, communications Being connected is not enough, staying adequately

connected is the problem

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Staying Ahead Of The Curve What’s the problem, don’t prices drop for telecom?

-Well, sort of, but Commodities versus Infrastructure

Different business model—rent service instead of sell deviceLess competitionGlobal interoperable facilityMajor investments

Price and availability depend onGeographyDeployment strategies and investment decisionsRegional and national public policies—telecom regulatedProcurement strategies

Thus, libraries find it a struggle to keep up

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What Moore’s Law Means to Libraries

Problem of connectivity is endemic to nature of technology. Problem is ongoing and very long term

Computing has been following ML for over 50 years! Solutions are very complex, not just finding dollars

Organizational Procurement policies (E-rate) Complicated technological analysis Etc.

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Why Care?

Demand is up

More serious services E-government Jobs Health

Normal apps are increasingly complex Higher definition Streaming media Two-way

New apps are more demanding Participatory Networks Peer to peer Gaming

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OITP/ALA Research And Interventions

Investigations

Public Libraries and the Internet Annual ORS/ FSU survey began to show scale and nature of the

connectivity problem (www.ii.fsu.edu/plinternet_reports.cfm)

Public Library Connectivity Project OITP study investigated qualitative issues—impacts, barriers and

solutions (www.ala.org/ala/washoff/oitp/ papersa/public_version_final.pdf)

Supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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Needs for Building Broadband Capacity(Summary of May 2008 Workshop)

Education Understanding the relationship between services (e.g.,

databases, streaming media) and bandwidth requirements Understanding key telecommunication terms Understanding telecommunication configurations, traffic

routing techniques, packet prioritization/shaping, and a host of other technical aspects

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Needs for Building Broadband Capacity

Education (cont) Understanding what telecommunication carriers and ISPs may be

able to provide in terms of reporting services Understanding security issues More

There is a need to dispel the mystery of telecommunication technologies within libraries

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Needs for Building Broadband Capacity

Technical Collaboration Need to share technical know-how within the library community Technical working group to create a knowledge forum for

Sharing technical expertiseDeveloping models for connectivity

– Including case studies, lessons learned, and best practicesDeveloping quality standards for today and next generation library servicesExploring data reporting and analysis techniques

Can include tutorials, sample network configurations, analysis software, and a range of other useful material for the library community

Online; planning manual

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Needs for Building Broadband Capacity

Quality of Service Standards There are no generally accepted or developed library-based

quality standards for Internet accessNeed performance measures and standards of service for benchmarking

and service goalsCan provide guidance regarding the technical implementations of services

and resources within librariesCan inform policy makers and telecommunication carriers regarding

library-developed acceptable levels of telecommunication services for the library community

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Capacity Management Tools Can help optimize bandwidth use Can set QoS for applications (e.g., shared ILS)

Technical knowledge Knowledgeable staff can be difficult to find and retain More complexity with library consortia WANs

General guidelines on bandwidth use Bandwidth needed by various applications and services

Difficult to define (e.g., video)Caution in setting any broadband baselines

Needs for Building Broadband Capacity

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Regional Library Cooperatives And The Future of Broadband

Important role of RLCs came out of the Public Library Connectivity Project report (July 2007)

Resulted in Denver 2007 conference to further explore role of RLCs

Purpose to Articulate role of RLCs in broadband deployment Identify a model that might be shared Identify ways to encourage other RLCs to support and deploy

high speed broadband

(Summary of Denver 2007 Conference)

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General advice to members Aggregation of demand Management and planning Equipment, technical support,

troubleshooting Training

Services of RLCs in Broadband Deployment

(linked at www.ala.org/oitp)

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Roles of RLCs in Broadband Deployment

Create a wide area network (WAN) for consortium members, negotiating with telecommunication companies

Manage the WAN, including troubleshooting and ongoing support

Facilitate connection to a statewide network Advocate actively for a statewide network

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A Model for Success

Leadership – at the RLC and from members Vision Inclusivity and partnerships Advocacy for the role of libraries Demonstration models Aggregation of demand and services Technical plan for implementation

and support Training Funding

RLCs conclusions: Hire good people Plan continuously Collaboration builds on

good faith and trust Build value for the

smallest and largest library

Find a funding model that works

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Next Steps

ICAN-OITP Task Force to look at options for encouraging more RLCs to participate in broadband support and deployment

Capacity Planning Workshop suggestions: Create a planning guide for telecommunications that might

includeDetermining current status of telecommunication options in a regionHow to set directions for the future building on the capacity planning workBest practices in implementing plans

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The Broadband Landscape:Where Are We?

(www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/217/report_display.asp)

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The Broadband Landscape:Where Are We?

(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/57/40629067.pdf)

U.S. ranked 15th; was ranked 4th in 2001

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The Broadband Landscape: What’s the Problem?

Dramatically increasing demand More users move off dial-up More interactive Web

No proactive national policy President's 2004 broadband goal

All have affordable access by 2007 FCC plan to promote more broadband

More broadband based on more competitionMore competition based on less regulationSept 2005 FCC deregulated broadband (underlying telco circuit)

– Exacerbated Net Neutrality – Factor in move to usage-based pricing

Every year brings more bad news as the U.S. slides farther down the broadband rankings. It’s a national embarrassment. We need to develop a broadband strategy like every other industrialized nation. —FCC Commissioner Copps

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The Broadband Landscape: What’s the Problem?

FCC proposes $300 million broadband fund from USF FCC June 12 Broadband Order*

Data: Change from zip code to census tract 99% of all zip codes have broadband accessCensus tract allows for more data correlation

Speed: 200kbps was “advanced,” now is “first generation”Consumers can report actual speeds

FCC seeks more comments on costs Several bills pending on this too

“We encourage the FCC to be adaptable in defining broad-band. 200 kbps does not accurately reflect the speeds marketed to libraries.” —ALA Comments to FCC, June 2007

* http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-89A1.pdf

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The Broadband Landscape: Increased Library Demand

More offering wireless Hosted or shared services (e.g., ILS) Libraries as content providers Changed Internet/Web landscape

Increased graphics Social networking Gaming Multimedia

Music, podcasts Entertainment, educationDTV transition, Feb. 2009

The problem is no longer library connectivity, but sustaining access to the Internet’s resources as the demands of the medium and patrons grow rapidly. What is sufficient speed?

“When you click, it happens.”

—OITP Public Library Connectivity Project Report

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The Broadband Curve: OITP Addressing Key Issues

Many key issues and recommendations Three that OITP decided to begin working immediately

Benefits of collaboration—aggregating demand and management Problem of capacity planning Addressing telecommunications policy

Current OITP/ WO initiatives Regional cooperatives as possible instrument of collaboration Help with capacity planning Telecommunications policy advocacy

(Other important issues also need addressing!)22

Rick Weingarten — Technology Consultant To OITP

John Bertot — University of Maryland

Bob Bocher — Wisconsin State Library

Nancy Bolt — Nancy Bolt & Associates

ALA Conference June 29, 2008